


Care

by Kariachi



Category: Ben 10 Series
Genre: Attempted Found Family, Ben 10 Reboot (2016), Centaur AU, Gen, Spoilers for 'Digital Quality', implied child neglect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-14 11:07:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29541420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kariachi/pseuds/Kariachi
Summary: Max may have had his flaws, but he wasn't about to leave a child to the whims of fate, not if he got the chance
Kudos: 8





	Care

“Okay, be careful coming in…” Max watched with bated breath as Four Arms eased into the Rustbucket, doing his best to squeeze through the door without bumping or waking Kevin. He would’ve preferred to bring him in himself, that was a lot of bulk to get through a doorway, but unfortunately calf though he may have been the young taur was far too big for him to carry.

“Over here, Ben!” They’d sent Gwen out ahead to put together some sort’ve proper sleeping space for him, reasoning that if any of them were going to have a clue what a taur’s bed looked like it would be her. She’d piled most of the blankets on the floor by the beds and stacked all the pillows lengthwise against the corner. Ben set Kevin down in the pile with a gentleness Max was proud to see from him. The boys may not have always gotten along, but _all_ of them were good kids in the end. As his grandson stepped back, reverting back to his proper shape, Max came forward and began tucking Kevin’s legs into what he guessed would be a more comfortable position.

He then immediately had to leap back as a long leg reflexively lashed sideways at his head. Okay, note, boy was limber.

“So, what do we do now,” Ben asked as Max threw the last remaining blanket over him instead. Still deep in sleep, Kevin fidgeted until his upper body was curled against the pillows and his legs were mostly beneath him.

“He clearly needs his sleep,” he answered, “so we’ll let him have it. Should probably get some food set aside, he looks half starved.”

“Oh, no, he always looks mangy like that.” Saddening though that thought was (he looked like he’d missed a good few meals and to hear it wasn’t in any way _new_ -) Max kept himself from saying anything, just smiling at the children.

“Be that as it may,” he said, “he’s a guest, and guests you feed. Now come on, Kevin should be safe in here so let’s go get us all some lunch.”

~~

Kevin was safe behind the locked door of the rv and he stayed that way, dead to the world, for a solid twenty-six hours. Max would’ve been worried, but then Ben had mentioned he hadn’t slept for _six days_ and at that point you let the child sleep. They had to go get more blankets and pillows, and Ben griped in the same way he did when Gwen was bothering him, but it was worth it to know the boy was safe and taken care of. For Max is was even worth the damage when he woke up and, finding himself half asleep in an unfamiliar space, panickedly launched himself to his hooves, which immediately slid and tangled in the blankets.

He'd fallen to the floor in a bleating, thrashing mass of blankets and limbs that it’d taken nearly two minutes, a broken cot, three spilled water bottles, and enough decimated books that Gwen had been forced to step outside, to calm everything down.

Ben teased him for it mercilessly over lunch, but at least he _got_ a full, healthy lunch. The afternoon was spent in a campground Max had found near the fairgrounds and taken full advantage of, the children having far more fun than they‘d admit when asked. Kevin had gotten revenge for the teasing with a prank very quickly and it had soon devolved into an all-out prank war between not just the three of them but also a few of the other kids whose families were camped around. By the time Max and the other adults had went and gathered them all up for dinner, laying out happily exhausted in a shallow stream nearby, he’d been finding himself trying to work out how they would comfortably fit everyone in the Rustbucket longterm. How the family would handle him coming home with one extra kid.

So of course, Kevin was gone yet again when he woke up the next morning.

Damnit.


End file.
